Queensland to Lift Vaccine Requirement at Many Venues, Shift Focus on Boosters and Jabs for Kids

A worker cleans while wearing a mask at a restaurant at Southbank, Brisbane in Australia, on June 29, 2021. Jono Searle/Getty Images

The Queensland state government of Australia has announced that it will lift COVID-19 vaccination requirements for a large number of venues, including cafes, cinemas, and galleries, as it refocuses its efforts on vaccinating children and pushing booster shots.

From 1 a.m. on April 14, most venues that have been open only to vaccinated staff and patrons will be open to all. This includes pubs, clubs, cafes, restaurants, theme parks, casinos, cinemas, weddings, showgrounds, galleries, libraries, museums, and stadiums.

The restrictions will remain in place at schools, hospitals, aged and disability care centres, prisons, and early learning centres.

“These measures have done their job,” Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said in a release.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath speaks after announcing a three-day lockdown for the Greater Brisbane area in Brisbane, Australia, on Mar. 29, 2021. Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

The measures first came into effect on Dec. 17, 2021, allowing only vaccinated people into a number of venues and premises in Queensland.

At the same time, the state opened its borders after months of being strictly controlled.

Queensland saw its highest COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation rates between late January and early February in the following weeks, as the Omicron variant wave swept the country, causing major workforce shortages and disruptions.

This was concurrently when the vaccination rate climbed to 90 percent of the eligible population nationally.

Citing the 90 percent vaccination rate amongst eligible Queenslanders, D'Ath said officials were now comfortable to take the next step.

“But the best defence against serious illness is to be fully vaccinated,” she said. “Our focus is now very much on getting Queenslanders boosted, and children vaccinated.”

The change comes as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk declared the state’s restrictions have served the purpose of “slowing the spread of COVID.”

“More than 90 percent of Queenslanders 12 and over have been fully vaccinated,” Palaszczuk said. ”The Chief Health Officer advises we can now safely ease these settings and still maintain a high level of protection.”

Meanwhile, Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard urged parents to arrange for their young children to get one of the available COVID-19 jabs.

“Numbers of young Queensland children vaccinated are still not where they should be,” he said. ”Their best protection is the vaccine, and I would encourage every parent to consider it.”

Expressing skepticism about the Queensland Labor government’s motives for dropping the restrictions, outgoing Queensland federal Nationals MP George Christensen said on Facebook, “Someone in Labor must have sniffed the wind and realised Queenslanders don’t like tyranny.”

Queensland LNP MP George Christensen released video announcing he won't renominate as LNP candidate at the next Australian national election. Screenshot by The Epoch Times

Christensen, who will not be contesting his seat at the upcoming federal elections, has been a vocal critic of federal and state COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

The conservative elected official was recently part of an extra-parliamentary cross-party inquiry into the Australian governments’ handling of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The inquiry heard from experts and victims of the state and federal government’s epidemic measures.

The inquiry was led by Queensland One Nation federal Senator Malcolm Roberts who recently spoke out against mandating COVID-19 vaccines for children under four.

Leader of One Nation, Queensland federal Senator Pauline Hanson, also tabled a petition with more than 41,000 signatures calling for a Royal Commission, the country’s highest form of public inquiry, into Australia’s handling of the epidemic.

In response to the announcement that Queensland will lift further restrictions, Hanson wrote on Facebook: “While this is a major achievement for everyone who has been fighting to wind back mandates and restrictions there is still much work to be done and many questions to be answered.”

“It is through continued pressure, both in parliament and in our communities that we have been able to begin the process of restoring our freedoms and removing these draconian mandates,” she added.

Meanwhile, Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) state Queensland MP Robbie Katter said the move comes a week after he tried to debate the vaccine mandates in Queensland Parliament.

“Great news that the venue-based vaccine mandate has been lifted, but it never should have been introduced in the first place,” he wrote on Facebook on April 5.

“It’s also curious that this issue wasn’t worth the time of day last week when the KAP attempted to debate, and ultimately end, the vaccine mandates in the Queensland Parliament.

“Workforce-based [vaccine] mandates remain in place, and these now need to go urgently,” he said.